


life is about the detours

by AlphaBanana



Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:07:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28152849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlphaBanana/pseuds/AlphaBanana
Summary: Two travelers find themselves inextricably linked when their NYC-bound flight is rerouted to Buffalo.[Human, Hallmark Movie AU]
Relationships: Detective/Ava du Mortain, Female Detective/Ava du Mortain
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	life is about the detours

_ We regret to inform you that our flight to John F. Kennedy International Airport has been rerouted to Buffalo Niagara International Airport. _

A chorus of “what” “are you shitting me” “but my boyfriend/mom/grandma” erupts from all over the plane, but all Riona can do is close her eyes and squeeze the armrest to her left, counting as she has been taught to relieve her anxiety.

“Miss—” A low voice tries to get Riona’s attention, but if she loses count now she’ll spiral, so she makes a questioning noise but does not open her eyes.

“Miss—my arm—” The voice is a little rough, almost soothing until—

Until hazel eyes snap open in realisation. What she is gripping tight enough to bruise is not, in fact, an armrest.

“Oh! Oh I’m so—” Riona trails off as she looks up - directly into jade eyes that are as striking and austere in their beauty as the woman they belong to, and Riona is quite pleased she is already seated, because otherwise she would feel  _ faint _ .

Riona is still clutching at the stranger’s arm like a life-raft, and abruptly she releases it with a wince.

“I’m so sorry.” A flush from more than mere embarrassment (she knows herself well enough to recognise it) - but she thinks she might have spied a similar flush on this woman’s pale cheeks, and that makes her a little bolder.

“Riona Lovelace.” Holds out a diminutive hand expectantly, and something zings up Riona’s spine when the stranger takes it in hers (her palms are calloused, Riona realises with something approaching a shiver), before withdrawing abruptly and rubbing that hand over the back of her own neck.

“Ava du Mortain.” Ava rubs vigorously enough at the nape of her neck that some strands of dark blonde hair come loose from her bun, some framing angular features, and Riona has to look away a moment.

“So—So, where  _ were _ you headed?” Riona tries not to let too much of her own disappointment bleed into her tone, but Ava nods sympathetically and sits back in her seat, and when Ava shuts her eyes, Riona lets her own drift over aquiline nose and strong features.

“Home.” There is a wealth of buried emotion in that word, even as Riona sifts through her mind to place the clipped British accent, like her mother’s, and she smiles reflexively.

“Whereabouts? I have family in Canterbury.” Riona has always been curious, has always wanted to know more - and something about  _ this _ unknown in particular dances around her head.

“Beaulieu - in Hampshire.”

They settle into a silence that feels strained, and Riona clears her throat, bringing Ava’s eyes back to her, and Riona needs to resist the urge to clear it  _ again _ .

“So, you really need the connecting flight, then.” This close to Christmas, there would not be many other options.

“Yep.” Ava stops, pauses long enough that Riona thinks that Ava has lost interest in the conversation entirely. Then she speaks again, voice low enough against the nervous excitement of the rest of the airplane that Riona has to lean in slightly to hear her.

“Where are you—”

“My girlfriend’s—” And Riona’s not sure why she felt the need to stress that she likes women to this perfect stranger, or why her heart flutters at the relief and something else in Ava’s eyes. “Anyway, she’s a journalist, and she got a job at one of the nationals, so she’s invited me to celebrate with her at the offices.”

A slow nod from Ava, eyes forward for a moment before she turns to face Riona, close enough to make Riona’s breath hitch.

“Where’s home for you?”

A deceptively easy question - “home” is...nowhere.  _ Nowhere _ has ever felt like home - at least, not in the way Riona has always dreamed. Even the flat she has shared with Bobby for three years—

Riona realises with a start that she’s been quiet for so long that she must look dumb  _ at best _ \- but when she meets Ava’s eyes again, they are warm and understanding, and Ava does not press her for an answer, settling instead into a more comfortable, companionable silence.

When they land in  _ Buffalo _ , Ava helps Riona get her suitcase down without being asked, and Riona blushes at the way muscles shift under plain, functional clothes—and surely she is imagining the slight smirk playing on lips that look soft enough to—

Riona rips her eyes away before she can finish the thought ( _ misses the way that smirk turns into a fleeting smile _ ).

Ava is tall enough that she  _ could _ have sped through the checks easily - but for whatever reason, she stays at Riona’s side and helps her get her bags off of the conveyor belt, at one point picking up the chocolates she had bought for Bobby (Riona had not even realised they had fallen off).

And while Ava staying with her had caused warmth to bloom in her chest, flowering outwards - that flower loses its radiance somewhat when Riona realises that she has been so slow (short as a tween and struggling under the weight of bags) that there is one cab left. Ava graciously agrees to go with her, though, to the motel the airliner has booked for passengers and the bloom flowers again, flaring at the way their sides are flush against each other in the tiny cab, pressing closer with every corner taken too sharply or too quickly.

They are the last to arrive at the motel, and Riona almost wishes that she could have taken a picture of the motel receptionist’s apologetic face as she tried to stammer out that there must have been a mistake, that there was only one—

“We’ll have to take it.” Ava speaks quickly, then, as if she is trying to accept before her brain catches up to her mouth.

“I—Yes, that’s—that’s fine.”

They both agree (flushing and avoiding each other’s eyes) that they can share the bed back-to-back, and start to get ready. Riona is taking a drink with her meds when the bathroom door swings open slightly and she sees muscles shifting under unblemished skin as Ava ties up damp hair, and  _ fuck _ , her  _ arms _ —

She chokes on the water she is trying to drink, and Ava comes out, looking alarmed for a reason Riona cannot quite parse.

“Are you alright?” Ava’s brow is furrowed, and she seems unconvinced by Riona’s stammered reassurance that she isn’t dying. Riona may  _ yet _ die if she sees that display again and  _ oh God _ , she will be in a bed with her in a matter of moments—

In a nightdress revealing enough that Ava chokes on  _ air _ , let alone any liquid, and she turns away, ears blazing red.

“In my defence, I didn’t  _ plan _ —” Riona _ would _ have been seeing Bobby for the first time in nearly two weeks, giving her a carefully-wrapped gift...and also a box of chocolates. Riona realises with a start that she has not even thought about Bobby in hours, and grows quiet, stomach churning in what she realises is  _ guilt _ .

They settle in the bed, and even back to back the  _ tension _ between them is almost overwhelming, even though Riona knows that the cold outside would be too punishing to consider leaving—but she feels as if she is  _ burning _ , and it feels like centuries before she manages to will herself to sleep.

When Riona’s eyes flutter open the next morning, long, thick lashes brush against Ava’s clavicle, and her soft legs are intertwined with Ava’s strong thighs, curves pressed against firm muscles and Riona is  _ sure _ that her face is as red as Ava’s.

And then she cannot ponder Ava’s face anymore, because she lands face first on the mattress with a yelp, having been pushed off roughly by Ava, who has stood up as if ready to flee or  _ fight _ , maybe both—

By the time Riona lifts herself slightly from the mattress, eyes wide in confusion, Ava seems to have softened, eyes tracing Riona’s frame as she pushes up onto her elbows, the way her curves press into the mattress. Opens her mouth as if to apologise—

Then clearly decides against it, storming into the bathroom and slamming the door with enough force to shake some of the paint loose.

When they are ready (Ava has not looked at her in nearly an hour, and Riona cannot tell if she feels disappointed or relieved), they go downstairs to realise—

That there is one rental car available.

“Well, I need to go home.” Ava is agitated, more so than Riona has seen her since first meeting her gaze - but something about her response  _ irks _ her for some reason.

“What, you’re just going to leave me here?” Puts hands on wide hips for effect as she looks up at Ava, watches jade-green eyes widen at the challenge.

“No, I—I just—” Ava frowns, and Riona relents, just for a moment.

“You know—we could share. It’s just the two of us,” and Riona has to pause, then, and wait until Ava’s spluttering cough has died down, “and we have plenty of room. We can make the journey in under a day, and then—”

“And we’d just about get there in time. You for your do—”

“And you for your new flight.”

A pause, then, as Ava looks at Riona with something approaching  _ respect _ , and Riona feels that warmth flare under her skin again, and she has to turn away, even as Ava starts to pay to rent the car.

The drive itself is pleasant enough. Ava, it turns out, knows Canterbury quite well, and even remembers the little coffee shops Riona had frequented as a student, and Ava talks about her siblings with a fondness that makes Riona’s heart  _ ache _ .

They’re both a little more guarded about their romantic relationships - the silence when Riona asked Ava if she was single seemed to last for a millennium, and Riona is no better, then, when asked about Bobby (and for a split-second Riona  _ resents _ Ava for making her think about Bobby, for bringing Bobby into this little oasis of calm, but Riona can hardly  _ say _ that without—)

“What do you do for a living?” Ava’s eyes never leave the road, and Riona catches herself staring a little too long at Ava’s face, a slight frown of concentration wrinkling perfect features, before she answers.

“I’m a florist.” Riona pauses a moment, waits for a smirk or a jibe - but none comes. “Bobby says it’s silly, but—I like bringing a little bit of colour into people’s days.”

Ava brings the car to a stop at an intersection and turns to Riona, eyes serious as ever and tone entreating.

“That’s not silly.” Ava’s voice is rough, almost husky, and Riona could drown in jade—

But, almost  _ thankfully _ , the car behind them honks their horn, and Ava has to turn away with a cough.

Riona clears her throat, tries to swallow around the sudden lump that has appeared out of nowhere. “What about you?” The question seems to take Ava by surprise, and she nearly misses the next turning.

“What?”

“What do you do for work?” Riona tries again, though she cannot seem to meet Ava’s gaze, thrown sidelong out the corner of green eyes, has to lick inexplicably dry lips and then has to grab onto the door handle when the car jerks slightly as Ava loses control of the steering for a split second.

“I’m a mechanic.”

Riona raises an eyebrow, gives her voice a little  _ bite _ of challenge. “With that driving?”

“You—” Ava splutters, even if Riona’s laugh mollifies her somewhat, and she still tries to grumble for another junction or two.

“I think you’d be good at it.” Riona continues, looking at powerful forearms and strong hands as she grips the steering wheel, before flushing and turning away, taking a sip of water as a way of distracting herself.

“I like getting my hands dirty.”

And just like that, the water is expelled with force, half of it dribbling down Riona’s chest and into her cleavage, and Ava’s smug smirk dies on her lips at the sight.

The silence between them is heady now, Riona can almost  _ taste _ it on her tongue, even as she looks out the window when they have just passed Hudson and sees a sign for a Christmas Extravaganza and a wild thought takes her.

“We have time. For the market.” Riona’s voice is hopeful (for whatever reason, she does not want this time to end, not want _whatever_ _this is_ to end), and whatever supplication Ava sees in wide, hazel eyes is enough to sway her.

Ava pulls into the parking lot, rolling her eyes half-heartedly, and then they are in a winter wonderland, and even Ava’s cool, jade eyes have softened.

The usual market stalls have been interspersed with fairground attractions, and Ava’s eyes alight on the High Striker, and she does not even need Riona to taunt her into taking part.

Riona helps Ava peel the pea coat from broad shoulders, and Riona is well-practised at hiding her instinctive reaction by now. Or so she thinks. But then Ava swings the mallet, the puck slamming into the bell with enough force to turn heads, and Riona cannot help pulling Ava into a side hug. Ava tenses for a moment, and Riona has just opened her mouth to apologise and request a shovel to dig herself an even deeper hole when Ava relaxes a little and leans into Riona’s quick embrace, even as Ava hands Riona the plush panda she won, blushing slightly. Riona makes sure to fasten it to her handbag with a warm smile.

Their next stop is a hot chocolate stand which promises to warm them, and huddled together under the awning, they are cocooned in heat, even as Riona passes judgement on the different groups and couples that walk by.

“They’re having a fight.” Riona says confidently, pointing discreetly at a couple walking together without speaking, frames tense even if they aren’t hurling obscenities at each other.

“How can you tell?”

_ Because I spend half my life like that. _ And then Riona caves, goes to Bobby with her tail between her legs and begs for forgiveness. Bobby wears magnanimity  _ very _ well, and is always gracious, twirling caramel hair between her fingers and widening chocolate eyes in a strange kind of happiness that seems  _ foreign _ , somehow, on her face.

“Just—because.” Riona takes a long glug of her hot chocolate, nearly burning her throat but the pain is worth it, it  _ grounds _ her, even as Ava tips her chin up so that hazel eyes can meet jade.

“You deserve better.” Ava’s tone is kind, and her voice rumbles across Riona’s senses like thunder, and Riona tries not to lose herself in the storm.

Tries, and fails, as Ava raises her thumb from its resting place at Riona’s chin to drag along her lower lip, apparently brushing away a drop of hot chocolate, but they are both dazed,  _ mesmerised _ , until Ava lets her hand drop from Riona’s face, swallowing thickly and tipping the stall owner generously before leaving the stall. All the owner does is roll her eyes lightly, and she narrows her eyes at Riona, seemingly—seemingly  _ jealous _ .

The idea that she and Ava might have something worthy of another’s jealousy makes Riona weak at the knees for a moment before she moves hesitantly to join Ava at the side of the ice rink. They stand in silence for a minute or so, watching the different skaters and their graceful movements.

“Do you want to—no, never mind.” Ava rubs the back of her neck and frowns, seemingly annoyed by the fact she had thought to ask.

Riona’s usual easy confidence abandons her, and she just about manages to stammer a response. “Um—I don’t know—I’ve never—”

“ _ Never _ ?” Ava’s tone is incredulous, and Riona lowers her eyes, more than a little embarrassed - her mother had  _ never _ approved of that sort of thing.

“Never.” Riona feels Ava move, feels the coming distance like an ache already - but now Ava is standing opposite Riona, has grabbed two pairs of skates in one hand.

“I’ll teach you.” Ava holds her hand out to Riona and Riona takes it without hesitation, and knows, but will never say, that she would do that over and over

For all her brusque movements and awkward silences, Ava is a surprisingly good teacher, and soon Riona is gliding along the ice as easily as the small children and teens—

Until suddenly Riona isn’t, and a botched stop means that she comes crashing into Ava hard enough for Ava to need to grip at her waist to keep them both upright, Riona clutching at Ava’s biceps and  _ fuck _ , she is  _ so close _ —

The seconds that follow seem to lengthen like shadows at sunset, both of them frozen in place until a man yells that they’re closing the ice rink, and they realise the time.

As they walk back to the car, Riona cannot wipe the smile off of her face, and wonders idly if this is what people usually feel like when they’ve been on a “date”. Not that that  _ was _ a date. Certainly not.

And then the car refuses to start. Refuses stubbornly, even once Ava has shucked off her coat and started to fiddle in the engine, grumbling as she looks for something that  _ should be there _ , not noticing the way Riona’s eyes follow deft fingers and forearms corded with muscle—

In the end, they have to wait for a mechanic, and by then the light is fading and any chance of them making their arrangements is practically a distant memory.

“This is all your fault.” Ava gripes, and Riona can feel her fingers clench into fists already.

“ _ My _ fault?” Riona tries to keep her voice level, but there’s a shrill note that creeps in at the end that Bobby always hates, but she can’t  _ help it _ , this is how people  _ sound _ when they are angry, and—

“If you hadn’t  _ insisted _ on us stopping here, we would have been in New York hours ago.” Ava rubs her hand over the back of her neck again, and Riona steps a little closer to press her advantage.

“You weren’t saying that when you were showing off at the stalls.”

“I was not  _ showing off _ —”

“Or when you were skating with me even after I told you I didn’t know how.”

“That’s—” Riona steps closer, and jade-green eyes never leave her, and Ava’s lips part a little.

“Or when you held me like you didn’t want to let—”

And before either of them can say or  _ do _ anything more, the mechanic from Hudson arrives, opens his mouth to speak - but then looks between the two of them and thinks better of it.

When they’re finally able to get back on the road, Riona offers to drive, as much so she can focus on something other than the heat trapped between them. Ava calls the airline and manages to book onto a later plane - though she shuts her eyes and lets her head drop back to thump against the headrest with a sigh that Riona feels ripple through her.

When they arrive at the rental company’s base in the city, Ava books herself a cab to the airport and Riona texts Bobby ( _ Bobby _ , she has a  _ girlfriend _ —) to ask her to pick her up.

The cab arrives and it is too soon,  _ far _ too soon, for this to be over. On impulse, Riona reaches for Ava’s hand, something leaping in her chest when Ava doesn’t pull away, and feels tears prick at her eyes.

“You—you could stay?” Even as the words leave Riona’s lips she knows it is a false hope.

“I don’t think—” Riona watches the muscles in Ava’s throat contract as she swallows thickly. “I don’t think that would be wise.”

“ _ Fuck _ ‘wise’,” and at any other time Riona would laugh at the almost scandalised expression on Ava’s face, “what do you  _ want _ ?”

“I—” Ava’s lips are parted, and she seems almost hypnotised, bringing her knuckles up to graze the soft skin at Riona’s cheek.

“I want everything I cannot have.”

They are close now, close enough to—

But then the cab driver arrives, threatens to leave Ava gawping there, orders her to “Kiss the girl or get in.” And although she pauses another beat, Ava gets into the cab.

Riona waits another hour or so for Bobby - who is probably angry, and would probably appreciate Riona going to her, as she normally does.

The doorman to Bobby’s apartment complex tries to say something to her as Riona walks by, but she ignores him, twiddling her thumbs in the elevator and fumbling with the keys—

And then dropping the keys altogether when she opens the door to see Bobby, splayed and inviting, with another woman’s tongue down her throat, and Riona does not stay to see if Bobby realises (does not stay to see if Bobby  _ cares _ ), turning on her heel with her bags trailing behind her.

**

Two hours later, Riona is on the outskirts of Times Square, sat on her suitcase with her back against the window of the Disney store and with the discount panda plushie in her hands. The softness of it is somehow soothing, even as bile rises in her throat at the thought that she let Ava go for  _ Bobby _ , who had  _ never _ given her anything without expectation of something in return.

If Riona looks up, she catches glimpses of a pea coat in the crowd - but that is too much, too  _ cruel _ and so she keeps her eyes fixed on the toy and tries to forget anything other than the feel of Ava’s hand on her cheek, tipping her head back—

And Ava is  _ here _ , now, doing that, calloused fingers skimming her cheekbone, and her jade eyes are warm and welcoming, and everything Riona has not had in so long.

“You—” Riona’s voice is no more than a whisper, fearing that speaking will make the mirage shimmer and shatter into nothing, but Ava  _ smiles _ , and returns the word in answer.

“You.”

Riona stands to meet Ava in the middle, craves the proximity - but frowns then, and trying to think when Ava’s fingers are stroking her face, her  _ hair _ , is like thinking through treacle. “I thought you—”

“I got to the gate, but I—I couldn’t.” Ava’s smile falters, the hand gripping Riona’s hair tightening reflexively, enough to make Riona feel dizzy with  _ something _ —

“Why?”

And then Ava is kissing her, lips chapped from the cold but still soft as Riona had imagined, and Riona lets herself cling to Ava’s frame, still holding the panda, and the contrast between soft and firm is like a balm for all her aches. Starts chaste, then builds into a crescendo, and the heat that has been building between them for days is welcoming as a hearthfire. Riona practically purrs at the contact, bringing herself as close to Ava as she dares, and Ava is there, warm and firm and reassuring in a way she did not know she needed.

They only break apart when a camera flash flickers at the edges of their cocoon, and even then Riona cannot help her giggle.

“So…” Ava trails off, endearingly uncertain.

“So.” Riona can’t stop smiling, and soon Ava is grinning to match, and Riona strokes the rare dimple that appears there with her fingertips.

“Any plans for the holidays?” Ava’s eyebrow is raised in question - and Riona will tell her about Bobby, when the time is right. But for now, she wants to luxuriate in it being  _ just the two of them _ for a little longer.

“Free as a bird.” Ava’s relief at Riona’s words is palpable, even as she leans down to press a small kiss to the corner of Riona’s lips. “You?”

Ava smiles against Riona’s cheek, and Riona thinks her heart might overflow.

“Wide open.”


End file.
